Perpetual Second Place

This weekend, four prospective fighters will look to lay claim to a six-figure contract as the winner of the ninth installment of “The Ultimate Fighter.” While one fighter is guaranteed any combination of fame, fortune and a surefire spot on an upcoming UFC Fight Night card, there begs the question as to how the loser will fare.

In football, you’ve got the perceived Super Bowl jinx, where after coming within moments of a league championship, the losing team inevitably suffers a setback the following season. Well, “TUF” may have it’s own Super Bowl jinx in the works.

While there really isn’t much separating the likes of Andre Winner or Ross Pearson at the moment, it’s amazing what a little history can do and how the careers of these two fighters can go in polar opposite directions.

Sure, either fighter will be gunning for the opportunity to become the next Forrest Griffin or Rashad Evans, but what about becoming the next Josh Haynes or Brad Imes?

Season One: Kenny Florian and Stephan Bonnar

Right out of the gates, we have easily the most successful pair of "TUF" runners-up. It's still hard to believe that Kenny Florian began his UFC tenure as a middleweight, but compared to his "TUF" runner-up successors, nobody has come close to sniffing "KenFlo's" post-reality show success.

Excluding his "TUF 1" finale loss to Diego Sanchez, Florian has gone a clean 9-1 in the UFC; the lone blemish coming at the hands of Sean Sherk over two years ago.

No shame on Florian's part though, as the Sherk bout was for the then-vacant lightweight championship and to Kenny's credit, he's the only "TUF" runner-up to receive a UFC title shot. In fact, he'll be gunning for that very same belt this summer in an overdue clash with champion B.J. Penn at UFC 101.

Outside of that, Florian sits pretty as a near-consensus top-3 lightweight and has victories over a who's who of combatants including Joe Stevenson, Roger Huerta, Din Thomas and Joe Lauzon. Not too shabby, in a rare case where it could be argued that the runner-up amounted to more success than the fighter who beat him in the finals.

While he hasn't experienced the same degree of success as Florian, Stephan Bonnar's post-"TUF" run is nothing to scoff at. His finale bout with Forrest Griffin needs no explanation, but in a contest that was so razor-thin, both fighters are hardly on the same level as they were back in 2005.

Since his first loss to Griffin, Bonnar has spent much of his time toiling around on Ultimate Fight Night cards beating a bunch of guys named Herb and Keith Jardine. Unfortunately, Bonnar hasn't done much to move past the middle rung at 205 pounds and saw his stock take a huge hit in February, when he was manhandled for 15 minutes for the unheralded Jon Jones.

Tack on a knee injury and a positive steroid test, and it's been trying times for Chicago native since putting the UFC on the map just four years ago. Fortunately for Bonnar, the Griffin fight has earned him a bit more leeway than other fighters.

Season Two: Brad Imes and Luke Cummo

We go from one end of the spectrum to the exact opposite, as both Brad Imes and Luke Cummo haven't exactly set the fight scene on fire since falling just shy of "TUF" victory. Imes—perhaps the largest man to ever pull off a gogoplata—gave Rashad Evans all he could handle and then some, but a split decision was his undoing and the UFC didn't have much more to offer Imes from that point forward.

Going winless in his only two post-"TUF" UFC appearances, Imes has spent the past couple years making the rounds amongst smaller circuit MMA promotions. Outside of the UFC, Imes' crowning moment was the opportunity to battle former IFL heavyweight champion Roy Nelson, who subsequently bludgeoned "The Hillbilly Heartthrob" in under three minutes.

Luke Cummo somehow remains in the UFC, despite going 3-3 since a gutsy "TUF 2" finale defeat at the hands of Joe Stevenson. Cummo has dropped his last two fights and was last seen in handcuffs following a DWI charge last October.

Not that this PR stint helps Cummo's already-flourishing career or anything, but it's hard to fathom Luke sticking around much longer. Cummo was last slated to meet Steve Bruno at UFC Fight Night 16, but pulled out of the fight for undisclosed reasons. No word has come down on when Cummo will next return to competition.

Season Three: Ed Herman and Josh Haynes

What does it say about this list of runners-up when after Bonnar and Florian, the most successful fighter is arguably Ed Herman? "Short Fuse's" UFC run has seen its share of ups and downs, as Herman strung together a perfect 3-0 mark during 2007, only to drop his only two outings of 2008.

Entering UFC 97 likely competing for his job, Herman spoiled the return of Canadian favorite David Loiseau, winning a lopsided decision that ultimately led to “The Crow” receiving his walking papers.

If you're relatively new to MMA and "The Ultimate Fighter," there's probably a good chance you won't have a clue who Josh Haynes is, and for good reason. Haynes' UFC career went very much the way of Imes, as losses to the aforementioned Cummo and Rory Singer earned Haynes the pink slip and it's been nothing but the minor leagues for him ever since, with a win over UFC veteran Sean Salmon sprinkled in there along the way.

Season Five: Manny Gamuryan

Skipping over the UFC runs of Patrick Cote and Chris Lytle, we come to the controversial runner-up finish of Manvel Gamburyan. An interesting case no doubt, Gamburyan's "TUF" run was cut short on the show's grandest stage, when the Armenian American's shoulder gave out early in the second round against Nathan Diaz and forced an abrupt tapout.

It succeeded a dominant first round by Gamburyan and for the next year, he seemed to be on crash course towards a rematch with Diaz, until a hard left hand by Rob Emerson stopped Manny's momentum dead in its tracks at UFC 87.

The 12-second knockout put Gamburyan on the backburner and a loss to Thiago Tavares at UFC 94 has since caused Gamburyan to drop from the UFC's lightweight picture altogether, dropping down to 145 pounds to try his hand in the WEC. Presumably no longer being crutched by his short, stocky figure like he was at 155 pounds, his strength and top control should presumably translate better as a featherweight. It hasn’t backfired on him yet, as Gamburyan took a unanimous decision over John Franchi at WEC 41 earlier this month.

Season Six: Tommy Speer

Perhaps the crowned jewel of "TUF" silver medalists, Speer's post-"TUF" run in the UFC lasted all of 51 seconds and was better served as a stepping stone for Anthony Johnson. Brutally knocked out by the rising welterweight at UFN 13, Speer was released after just one fight and goes down in history as the "TUF" runner-up with the shortest run in the world's top fight promotion. Fading into obscurity, Speer has gone 2-1 since being dropped from the UFC.

Season Seven: C.B. Dollaway

By the time season seven winner Amir Sadollah makes his long-awaited return to the UFC this summer, C.B. Dollaway will have competed three times under the UFC banner. Despite being cut short on two occasions by the then-anonymous Sadollah, Dollaway has rebounded nicely with wins over fellow "TUF 7" cast member Jesse Taylor and collegiate wrestling nemesis Mike Massenzio.

Heck, he even managed a spot on the UFC 92 main card along the way. It's evident the UFC has plans for Dollaway, who was highly touted heading into the reality show and emerged as an early favorite to win the six-figure contract.

But his disappointing showing in the finals has done nothing to stunt the development of the Arizona Combat Sports product, who is next slated to meet Tom Lawlor at UFC 100.

Season Eight: Phillipe Nover and Vinicus Magalhaes

It’s been trying times for the most recent cast of “TUF” runners-up, who share the odd similarity of being favored to win their respective finale bout and convincingly falling short. Both seemed like such safe picks to dispatch Efrain Escudero and Ryan Bader last year, but it wasn't meant to be.

Phillipe Nover carried the unfortunate task of living up to the Dana White-induced moniker of "lightweight Anderson Silva" and while fight fans everywhere were enamored with the Muay Thaiof the "Filipino Assassin," MMA is a multi-faceted game and Escudero had no trouble exposing Nover's untested takedown defense. Nover’s encore wouldn’t prove to be much better as he was pounded out in controversial fashion by Kyle Bradley at UFC 98.

Vinicius Magalhaes' renowned jiu-jitsu skills were enough to edge Jules Bruchez and Krzysztof Soszynski, but his inability to absorb a partially-blocked overhand right from Bader spelled the demise of the vaunted Brazilian submission whiz. Remaining relatively anonymous following the Bader fight, Magalhaes was given his chance at redemption against Eliot Marshall at UFC 97.

Unfortunately for him, trying to play kickboxer did him no favors yet again, as Magalhaes was edged by decision and subsequently released from the UFC.

In the end though, it's been quite the mixed bag as far as the "TUF" runners-up go. Of the 11 fighters listed, five no longer compete in the UFC and two more could very well be on their way out in the next few months.

Excluding their losses in the finals, the combined UFC records of the "TUF" runners-up is 24-17, with Florian's 9-1 UFC mark helping out that mark graciously.

Florian is far and away the MVP of the bunch thus far, but essentially, this all reveals what an absolute crapshoot the whole process is. Forrest Griffin and Rashad Evans are at the top of their game these days and while it's obvious that they've evolved since winning their respective seasons on "TUF," it's just startling to look and see what has happened to the fighters who fell just shy of the mark, and what has happened to them since.

Bear in mind, Bonnar and Imes both lost close split decisions in their respective finale bouts and if there was a different panel of judges that evening, who knows if the result may have turned out differently.